The 129th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle has arrived

Faster than a blink of an eye (well, not really, but it sure seems that way sometimes) another fortnight has flown by, meaning that it’s time yet again for another meeting of that venerable blog carnival of critical thinking, the Skeptics’ Circle. This time around, we have our first ever veterinarian hosting. I could make jokes about the Skeptics’ Circle going to the dogs, but I’ll exercise some rare self-restraint and refrain from doing so. (Oh, wait…)

Then join us in two weeks for the next installment in this ever-growing exercise in blogging about skepticism, critical thinking, and science, when it will be held at The Lay Scientist. If you’re a blogger, here’s yet another opportunity to strut your critical thinking stuff by sending your entries to Martin. I’ll even forgive Martin for his seriously misguided rant against Mac users yesterday. For now. If I hadn’t been so seriously busy last night (not quite an all nighter, but getting close), it would be something I’d have normally seriously thought about applying some not-so-Respectful Insolence to in the course of my normal blogging–not because Martin doesn’t think the new iPad is anything special, but because of his rant against Apple fans themselves. Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.

In any case, guidelines for submissions can be found here, and if you’re a blogger who’s interested in hosting guidelines for hosting are here.

Dr Andrew Wakefield, the expert at the centre of the MMR controversy, “failed in his duties as a responsible consultant” and showed a “callous disregard” for the suffering of children involved in his research, the General Medical Council (GMC) ruled today.

Wakefield also acted dishonestly and was misleading and irresponsible in the way he described research which was later published in the Lancet medical journal, the GMC said.